Survivors Like Us
by Call Me Petey
Summary: Surviving on her own after her home town was afflicted, Anna stumbles upon another survivor, and together they form a friendship, meet new people, overcome tragedy, and find a reason to live within each other. But can they survive when the all the odds in the world are stacked against them? (Language, Mature/Sexual Content, Blood and Violence Throughout)
1. Confrontation

Confrontation

The bugs' singing rang out through the woods. The smell of trees, pine needles, dirt, and various types of fauna filled the air in a beautiful, relaxing way. A gentle breeze came by, just barely having the force to disturb the long grass and wild flowers that grew there before negating it's entirety. The hot summer air was prominent throughout the wood, and the sun beat down on the accumulation of trees, forming little shady spots of bliss, safe from the sun's rays of heat. It was in one of these idyllic spots of coverage where a small, lonesome tent was pitched, being olive of color and tucked into the wood well enough to where, unless someone or something was absolutely looking for it, it couldn't be seen.

And inside was a young lady, being eighteen of age, and fast asleep. Her body was fair, not being too skinny, but far from even being in the slightest bit heavyset. Her face was painted with a galaxy of freckles, and her hair, the color representative of autumn leaves and sunshine, was parted into two different braids, both of which were coming loose, spewing shining, copper locks here and there. Dressed in a worn, black and grey flannel shirt and tight jeans, the woman inside slept easy, being sure to regain her energy before continuing her journey any further.

A Monarch butterfly flew onto the tent, perching itself for a rest before continuing on its merry way. A caterpillar was munching away on a leaf, leaving an imperfect pattern on the side that was far from incomplete. All was quiet, letting the girl sleep in peace.

That was until a twig snapped.

The girl shot up out of her resting place, putting herself on two feet with a rather large bowie knife in hand in the blink of an eye. Slowly, breathing heavily, she opened the tent, watching with piercing, teal eyes through the slowly opening tent zipper for anything that she could determine as dangerous. Upon unzipping the tent door to the bottom, she stuck her head out, evaluating anything that might have been out of place from the last time she saw the forested woods. Although there was no immediate threat, she heard the disturbance of leaves and earth; a rustling coming from somewhere outside of the tent.

Cautiously, the girl moved out of her tent in search of any threat to her safety. She moved quietly, the knife in her right hand was raised, ready to strike at the first notice. As she walked stealthily forward, eying over the bright green leaves and grass for her target, she could hear the rustling becoming increasing closer. She crept on, maintaining her secrecy by avoiding stepping on any leaves in her heavy, steel-toed work boots. Slightly, but notably so, the rustle became louder and louder as she neared a rather large bush, big enough to provide whole body coverage.

And then silence.

The noises stopped. Nothing but the songs of the birds and the bugs were heard, and all was peaceful once again. A bead of sweat rolled down the left side of her face as blue eyes scanned the area where she was sure the noise was originating from in the first place. A sense of adrenaline kicked in, causing her pupils to dilate and time to slow down as she took another step towards the bush, and this time, bringing her boot down onto a weak twig, causing it to snap.

A brown and black fur-ball came sprinting from the bush, hopping as fast as it could away from where our heroine stood. She, in response, yelped slightly and flailed her knife aimlessly in the air, coming in contact with nothing as the rabbit ran away, hoping to never be found again.

The redhead, now happy that no one was around to see her little act of cowardice, chuckled quietly to herself, letting a shy grin spread across her lips as she wiped her brow.

_Holy cow, that scared the Hell outta me. I fought things that could kill me, and I about pee myself over a little rabbit? _The girl let the grin spread across her freckled cheeks even more as she enclosed her knife blade in the sheath on her thigh. _Some survivalist I am._

The girl turned around to head back to her tent, but instead of seeing the beautiful trees and warm sunlight that she had grown accustomed to for the last few days as she gathered supplies, she met face to face with a shambling corpse of the undead.

The corpse, or zombie (if you will), was not a fresh turn. It was still wearing clothes, sure, but the flesh around its head and neck were all but falling off of the corpse entirely. Dressed in camouflage and with a backpack on, this corpse already had its arms outstretched previous to it and the girl's sudden confrontation, and therefore had an advantage as it grabbed a hold of her arms before she had time to react.

Struggling to get free, the redhead wrenched her arm downwards, trying to break free from the corpse's grip. Grunting and huffing to achieve freedom, she finally pulled her arm free, bringing most of the corpse's own arm with it, effectively ripping it from its body. It was then that the girl managed to unsheathe the knife on her thigh, and bring it upwards in a swift motion, driving the blade through the bottom of the corpse's skull and all the way to the brain, stopping it cold as it's teeth were just a mere inch or less from the her face.

She pushed the limp body of the corpse to the ground, yanking the blade free from her attacker's skull as it fell. Breathing heavily, the girl stared at the body that lay still on the ground, still in shock of the terrifying, near-death experience. Finally able to control her breathing, the redhead grabbed an old rag from her back pocket and wiped the blade clean of blood before sheathing it once again. Letting out a sigh, she dropped to her knees, flipping over the body before opening the backpack that somehow remained intact.

* * *

It wasn't always like this: having to scrounge and scavenge for food, water, shelter… Everything. Just last year everything was fine, and business was usual in Arendale. The smell of freshly baked loaves made it's way from the baker's oven to the outside air, causing the people outside to come in. The bustling cars and people made their way to and from work, just as they would for the remainder of that week. The mall would be full of people buying the latest in Norwegian fashion, or dining in the food court to rest their weary legs and refill their empty stomachs.

But it was until ArenScience Industries decided to attempt to come out with a new kind of vaccine, something revolutionary that could help treat cancer if it was found within a certain time range that everything was peaceful. Tests needed to be ran for the vaccination to be approved, and so far the results had been just what they were hoping for. They tested the medicine first on rats, injecting cancerous cells into the animal before countering them with the vaccination itself. After a few days of testing, the rat was cancer free.

They moved the testing on to dogs, giving the animal the same procedure. The same results came in from that. All was looking good for the future of ArenScience, and the news of this new vaccine traveled all over the world. But the news would travel again, however, and this time it wouldn't be in a way that anyone would favor.

ArenScience was finally allowed to star using the medicine on humans, and within just a day of announcing the availability of the vaccine, there were patients lining up outside the doors of hospitals everywhere. Everyone who could have gotten the drug did so, and went home that day with the knowledge that they were bound to be cancer free.

But that knowledge quickly turned to doubt as reports of sickness rang out from everywhere, and all of them claimed ArenScience was the cause.

ASI quickly countered these statements, replying via social media that every symptom that anyone could be experiencing was normal, and that the body should confront these symptoms and would return to normal in just a few days time.

But just a few days was all the time that the vaccine needed to turn people into carnivorous, cannibalistic demons that knew neither friend, nor family.

The first report was from an autopsy in Texas, stating that a man, "died two days prior to this recording, but has henceforth risen and is beating furiously at the door of his compartment in the morgue." Many more cases, some being gruesome, whereas some being more disturbing, confirmed the statement made in the autopsy. People were coming back from the dead and were attacking people.

The army became involved, shuttling people to "safe zones" where they could remain secure until the armed forces could exterminate the undead threat. There wasn't much resistance from the corpses, but a new discovery was made: a bite from one of the undead will turn a victim into one of the undead as well. This discovery just so happened to be found when an injured soldier was brought back to a safe zone to be treated.

After being sedated and patched up, the injured soldier was left unattended in a medical tent, the door unlocked and free to open at the slightest push. Unable to scream or call for help due to the sedation, the soldier turned, and managed to find its way into the commons area of the safe zone under the cover of the darkness outside. Before the turned soldier was found, he had already bitten more people than the infirmary could hold. Days later, those people turned as well, following the same pattern as the corpse before them.

This happened all over the world, and soon there was no place left that was safe for anyone.

Except for here in the woods where this mysterious, redheaded girl managed to find a can of spam, which she hoped was still edible, and a can of instant mashed potatoes in the backpack of the corpse she had just laid to rest.

Taking a long look at the cadaver on the ground, the girl let out a sigh before getting up and pulling an Oakland A's ball cap out of her back pocket and placing it on her head.

"Thank you, friend," she said, juggling the two foodstuffs as she talked. "Maybe now you can finally rest in peace."

She turned away from the body, and went over to her tent, stepping over sticks and baked leaves. She reached her abode, grabbing her backpack and shoving the food inside before closing the bag. Looking up at the tent, she let another faint smile creep across her lips.

"Well tent," the girl giggled to herself. "Looks like we're gonna hit the road again."

* * *

She spent most of the day walking through the woods, being careful about where she stepped and keeping an eye out for anything she could attempt to kill for food. Although it wasn't much, she had a recurve bow and a quiver attached to her backpack that held four arrows that were still in good condition. She used this weapon sparingly in fear of damaging her precious arrows, but when she did use it, it was to kill game. Any kind of undead opposition would have been dealt with by either a knife, or as it was a few weeks ago, a gun. She had lost her pistol in a quick escape from another close confrontation, and left behind some now necessary food.

She made up for her losses, however. In her travels since then, she had come across the bow (found on a deceased corpse which had been dispatched by someone or something else), found more supplies than she had found in prior weeks, and even found a larger knife than the one she owned, but decided to keep the one she had due to it's effectiveness and durability thus far.

Managing to find supplies was now the only means of survival. She hadn't run across anyone, well, anyone that was living, since she evacuated out of her home town. Chances of finding something of worth in the wooded part of Arendale was slim, but it didn't matter to the girl at this point. Her backpack, complete with semi-full quiver and rolled up tent on the top, rattled as she walked. Cans connected with each other, and various other items that were in the bag clinked and jangled with each step.

It was getting darker, having walked for a few hours with only taking breaks to take care of a few stray undead before heading on her way again, and the girl knew she would have to find a place to set up camp once again.

She sighed, and looked around for a nice, concealed area to pitch her tent once more, but something in between the leaves caught her eye. A structure of some sort was barely seen maybe 50 feet away from where she was now. She pulled the flashlight from her belt and clicked it on in the direction of the construction, just for a mere second to not give her position away if anyone else was in the vicinity.

Sure enough, there was a building there. Smiling, the girl placed her flashlight back onto her belt, and made her way to the building.

It was small, the sign outside reading "Oaken's Trading." The place was secure, according to our heroine's deduction after walking around the premises twice and seeing no holes or other means of entry other than the front door. Matter of fact, the place looked practically untouched.

_I actually get to have a roof over my head for a night. I could probably even start a small fire. _The girl's eyes closed as she smiled, thinking about the cans of food in her bag. _I might even cook some beans tonight._

Carefully she went, making her way to the front door of the trading post and opening it up as slowly as she could, knife in hand. The door was weathered, and the shrill creaks that it emitted cut the silence like a knife. The redhead cringed as the noise rang out, knowing that if anyone or anything was in the building, it surely had head _that_.

It wasn't until the door was fully open when she heard a noise in response.

A soft _pit-pat_ noise, followed by a bit of scraping, made its way throughout the silence, causing the redhead to tense up. This was no rabbit this time, and she knew that she had to be ready for a fight. Mentally steeling herself, the girl raised her knife in a pose to where she could strike with ease.

The noise became louder but this time it was followed by the din of a breath as it was exhaled loudly.

Now, in plain sight, the girl finally saw what had been making all the noise in the first place as it stepped out of the darkness of an adjacent room, and into the small bit of light that shone from the girl's flashlight.

Putting her knife down, she saw a large, white husky with piercing grey eyes sit down in front of her with such a stance that it almost looked regal, pampered even.

Smiling, the girl sheathed her knife and stepped towards the dog with an outstretched hand, causing the husky to tilt it's head sideways, as if pondering who this person was in his humble abode.

"Come on, don't be shy," she said, smiling and keeping eye contact with the dog. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

She was just inches away from the pup when it suddenly turned aggressive, taking a step back and lowering his ears as if he was ready to pounce. That was when she heard the creak of the door once again.

She began to turn, her adrenaline kicking in and losing all sense of time, letting her hand find the hilt of her knife, but before she had a chance to even face the other way, she felt the cold, hard steel of a gun barrel on the back of her head.

"You have three seconds to take your hand away from the knife and put it behind your head," said a stern, but imperial female voice from behind. "Otherwise this room will get a new coat of red paint."

The redhead breathed out, trying to relax herself. Then, in a flash, made her move.

Without any further hesitation, the redhead pulled the knife free from her scabbard and spun around, knocking the barrel of the gun away from her head with her free hand. Now facing her assailant, she thrust the knife forward, sure to hit her mark.

The gun-wielder responded by delivering a second pistol, held in her other hand, to the redhead's temple, dropping her cold. Standing above the redhead was a taller, blonde haired girl in black clothes. Her body was fair, and her skin was pale, complimenting her blonde-white hair as it was pulled into a singular braid on her left shoulder, extending halfway down her chest.

The husky was still growling, and the blonde made eye contact with the pup, smiling as she reached into her pocket.

"Here you go, Olaf," the blonde said, throwing a small bone to the dog, causing him to cease his growling and wag his tail happily. "You're getting better at this 'innocent dog' role."

The blonde girl looked down at the unconscious body that was sprawled on the floor, and let out a sigh.

"Alright then, let's get to it," the blonde said, walking past the husky and petting his head as she did so. "Have you seen my rope anywhere by any chance?"

* * *

**Alright guys, that was the first chapter. I understand that you might have gotten a little tired of me not using names, but that'll change in the next chapter, so don't worry. c: I think I'm going to have a lot of fun writing this one, and I hope you guys will enjoy it! Thanks for reading, and I'll get to work on the second chapter!**


	2. Bound

Bound

Finally, the redhead came to. Opening her eyes slowly at first, her vision being blurry and distant, she gained the notion that she was still in the same house as she was before. There was a small fire now, and the warmth that it gave off was affable to the girl's cold skin. Although it was the middle of summer, that pistol to the head didn't do her any favors.

Reaching for the fire to warm her hands, she quickly realized why exactly she was on the ground.

Her whole upper body was bound to a wooden post inside the small trading post, and the weight of the rope was discomforting at best. She was in different clothes now, a grey, short sleeve tee-shirt with "The Who" on the front and a pair of black sweatpants. She moved her eyes from the fire, and saw that her kit was beside her, including her weapons that she carried. Trying to somehow break free of her bonds and regain her weapons, the redhead wiggled and struggled against her bindings.

She stopped when she heard a low growl come from the direction of the fire.

She turned her head to see the blonde haired girl standing with her dog; the girl was holding a pistol, and the dog had its teeth barred and ready to dig into the redhead. The blonde moved to a stump that was sitting by the fire, never taking her eyes off of the tied up girl. Sitting down, the husky came and sat by her, closing his eyes as the blonde stroked his fur.

"Alright," the blonde said, setting the pistol down by her feet. "Let's be civilized here. What's your name?"

The woman's voice was genuine, with a honey like sweetness behind it. It seemed royal even, and the redhead found herself mesmerized by how comforting it was to hear it.

Regardless of how she sounded, the redhead remembered that the lump on the side of her head was all because of her.

"Why do you want to know my name," the redhead asked, an annoyed tone in her voice. "Couldn't you have asked me before you clubbed me over the head with a pistol?"

The blonde chucked. "Couldn't you have just done what I had asked in the first place and not try to kill me?"

"Well, how was I supposed to know that you weren't just gonna off me?"

"You couldn't have, but you still ended up on the losing side."

"Yeah, well, I didn't know you had _two _pistols."

The blonde looked at the gun beside her feet. "Comes in handy."

"Yeah," the redhead scoffed. "I can tell."

The blonde grinned. She got up, careful not to kick her gun, and moved over to a bucket that was close to the small fire. She reached in, the sound of water sloshing as she stuck her hand in filled the air as she pulled a small rag out, wringing the excess water back into the bucket. After making sure that there was no water that would drip from the rag, the blonde moved over to where the redheaded girl sat tied up, kneeling down beside her.

"Lean your head back," the blonde said sweetly, lifting the rag so the redhead would acknowledge it.

"Huh? Why?"

"Because I feel guilty for putting a dent in your head, so lay it back."

Whether it be because her head was throbbing as if bombs were going off inside of her, or because there was something about this girl that just seemed like she could be trusted, the bound girl lay her head back, and not a second later she felt the warm pleasure of the rag on her knot in her head, relieving her pain and causing her to let out a sigh of delight in response.

"There we go," the blonde said. "That should do the trick." The girl laughed uncomfortably. "Again, sorry for knocking you over the head with a pistol."

"Sorry for trying to kill you with a knife," the redhead replied, still in a blissful trance from the rag's warmth.

"Alright, second try," the blonde said as she sat back down in her spot by the fire, petting Olaf when he put his big, furry head in her lap. "My name is Elsa. What's your name?"

The redhead opened her eyes, finding the gaze of the other girl. There was something genuine about her. Something… affectionate behind those sapphire eyes. She was taking care of her, and even though she was tied up at the moment, the other girl didn't do anything to hurt her since that vicious pistol-whip. Maybe, just maybe, there was hope for something here.

"My name is Anna," the redhead said, closing her eyes once again. "It's nice to actually meet you, Elsa. Especially when you aren't trying to kill me."

Elsa chuckled. "Ditto, Anna." Standing up once again, Elsa made her way over to the Anna, kneeling down again, but this time behind her. "Call me crazy, but I think I can trust that you won't try and kill me again. I'm gonna let you free so long as you refrain from using that knife on me, okay?"

The ropes began to loosen around Anna, and she knew that there was definitely hope for _something_ here.

"I won't try to kill you if you don't try and kill me," Anna joked, stretching her arms as she pulled them loose from the ropes. "Deal?"

Elsa, still out of sight from Anna as she loosened the rope entirely, smiled, letting out a small laugh. "I think we have a deal." Finally untying the rope, Elsa made her way to the front of Anna, reaching out a hand to help her up. "I also think it's time we had some food."

Anna eyed over the outstretched hand, and smiled back at Elsa before taking it into her own to be helped up. "I think that's the best idea I've heard all day."

* * *

Anna gladly popped a spoonful of baked beans from a can into her mouth as she looked over at Elsa, stirring the pot that sat above the small fire, ensuring that the food stayed fresh for as long as possible.

The blonde shook her head.

"So you're from Arendale City, huh?" Elsa asked, looking over to Anna. "That must have been quite a scare when the outbreak first happened."

Anna nodded, eyes open wide as she chewed on the beans, trying to hurry and swallow them to offer Elsa a response.

"It wash more than shcary," Anna said, her mouth still somewhat full, and her attempt at trying to talk caused the other girl to chuckle silently. Swallowing her beans, Anna shook her head. "It was terrifying. There were things that happened that day that I don't think I could ever forget…"

Anna's stare went somewhat blank, and Elsa noticed something was wrong.

"Anna, if you need to talk…"

The redhead snapped to, making eye contact with Elsa for a few seconds as she took in the genuine worry behind Elsa's eyes. Finally, Anna shook her head.

"No… No. It's okay. I just, have a lot to remember that day. I wouldn't want to bore you."

Anna's eyes averted from Elsa's, and they fell to the floor beneath her feet. The redhead closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. Not a second later, however, she heard wood scraping across wood, and looked up to see Elsa sitting just a foot away, body faced toward Anna, her eyes set on the redhead's, and Olaf's big, fuzzy head was in her lap as she scratched in between his ears.

"I'm all ears, Anna. You aren't going to bore me," Elsa said as she gave Anna a concerned look. "Please."

Anna, unable to unlock herself from Elsa's eyes, sighed.

"Alright, but sorry if I get a little emotional."

"You're a girl," Elsa said, giving Anna a reassuring smile. "It's in your contract to be emotional."

Anna smiled before closing her eyes and taking a long breath. "It started the week after my graduation. The news about the vaccines, that is. And, well, you know how badly the medicine went down shit creek. We didn't know about the side effects until… It was too late."

Anna's eyes turned bleak and her skin became paler than before, causing Elsa to frown with concern.

"My older sister was diagnosed with terminal cancer a few months before, and after the good news about the medicine… We got her treated. She was okay for a while, but…"

Anna's bottom lip began to quiver.

"The side effects began to show. There were others in the city who had been treated and were experiencing the side effects as well, but we were told that it was normal, so we went with the treatment and injections. It was just two weeks after that when it happened."

Anna sighed, trying to calm herself down as she never took her eye off of the floor.

"It was about three in the morning when I heard my mother scream. I woke up, and ran into the living room where I saw my dad stabbing these, _creatures_, through our broken window with a kitchen knife. I wanted to help, but he told me to stay back as he tried to defend our home. Mom sat in the corner crying as dad did all he could. No one noticed…"

Anna pushed her face into her hands.

"No one noticed my sister had… Turned. She made her way into the living room and…. A-And she bit my mom…"

Anna's voice was choppy, and her whole body trembled as she spoke.

"Dad told me to run. So I ran. I turned around and ran through the back door as I heard my dad pleading for my sister to forgive him…"

Anna was fully in tears, her voice weak and her nose congested.

"I ran. I can never forget that day, and I can never forget how much of a coward I was."

Elsa watched the redhead as she cried, a feeling of helplessness cascaded all around her. She moved over to Anna, waking up Olaf before she got up. She put her arm around Anna, patting her on the back as she wept.

"I'm so sorry. I wish you didn't have to go through that. I know how it feels to lose someone you're close to."

Anna sniffled, and brought her head up to look at Elsa with reddened eyes.

"You do?" Anna asked weakly.

"Mhm," Elsa grunted, nodding affirmably. "My situation was a lot like yours, except I had to kill my own mom and dad."

Anna gasped, bringing her hands up to her mouth in shock.

"Oh my god Elsa, I-I'm so sorry, I-I-I didn't mean-"

"Anna, it's okay," Elsa interrupted, closing her eyes. "It happened during the night, and I was alone with my parents. My sister was over at a friend's house in the city. We lived in a small little town, but my dad was mayor. It was a half-hour out from the city. I woke up when my door was being pounded on, and I grabbed the shotgun beside my bed. I opened my door, and, well… Whatever those _things_ were… They weren't my parents anymore. They were gone."

Anna looked down again, studying the floor.

"I hope your sister is okay," the redhead said, sighing as she gave herself a reassuring smile, sniffling back more tears. "That's why I'm headed back into the city. I'm going to look for my dad."

Anna looked up at Elsa only to find that Elsa was already looking at her, smiling and wiping a single tear from her face.

"That's very loving of you Anna, but you can't expect to go there unprepared as you are," Elsa said before she realized exactly what she had said. "No offense."

Anna scoffed playfully. "That's why I came here, so I could find supplies or something." Smiling, the redhead tapped the side of her head. "Instead, I got a concussion from a blonde ninja with a dog."

Elsa laughed before she got up to douse the flames of the fire, pulling out two sleeping bags.

"Well, besides from that, you did get at least _one _supply," the blonde said, tossing a sleeping bag to Anna.

"Oh?" Anna mused, raising an eyebrow. "What would that be?"

Shedding the top layers of clothes, Elsa hopped into her sleeping bag, same as Anna.

"You got me now. Olaf and I are coming with you."

Anna's jaw practically hit the floor.

"B-But you barely know me! Why would you want to come with me?"

"Because you're doing something that no one left on this earth would do. You're facing death and danger to find someone you love, and if I could do the same, I would. If you don't want my help, then I suppose I can understand and you can be out of here by tomorrow. But I want to accompany you through this." Elsa turned to face an astonished Anna. "I want to help."

Anna stammered, verbally running through sentences that were unintelligible and incoherent before finding the right words.

"I-I would love that! I don't know what to say, Elsa. Thank you so much."

Olaf, lying beside Elsa, gave a quiet bark.

"And thank you too, Olaf," Anna said.

"We'll start in the morning," Elsa said, petting Olaf once again. "Until then, goodnight Anna."

Anna smiled as she watched Elsa turn over to face her dog, letting Olaf kiss her nose before she closed her eyes to go to sleep.

"Goodnight, Elsa," Anna said happily. "I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

**Well, there that was. Chapter 2 wasn't too exciting, I understand, but I did put some backstory in there for you guys. There will be more later. Next chapter will be chock full of suspense, so stick around! Comments are appreciated!**

**Fav/Follow if you enjoyed!**

**\- FHDB**


	3. Unwelcome

Unwelcome

The smell of smoke caused Anna to snap awake.

Jumping up, she pulled the knife from the sheath around her thigh to combat anything that might have caused the fire, whether it be a clumsy animal seeking refuge in the night, or even a marauder that crept in, trying to take what wasn't theirs and cover their tracks. Anna's eyes widened when all she found was the west side of the trading post ablaze from top to bottom; the west side containing the only way out. Frantically, Anna threw her knife aside and rushed over to a still sleeping Elsa. Olaf lay asleep as well, sprawled across Elsa like a small, furry blanket.

"Elsa," Anna said sternly, pushing on the blonde's shoulder. "Wake up! There's-"

In a flash, Elsa sprung from her bag, overtaking Anna in a single swift motion (causing Anna to squeal), and wound up on top of the redhead, a hand pressing down on her chest and the other held a gun to her head. After breathing heavily for a moment, Elsa snapped back to reality and found her eyes were locked with Anna's very blue, and very terrified eyes.

"Oh my god," Elsa huffed as she put the gun back into its holster. "Anna, I'm so sorry, I had no idea what wa-"

"Worry about it later," Anna said austerely, cutting her off. "We have a bigger problem right now!"

Elsa's brow furrowed. "Wait, what?"

As if on cue, a few pieces of the roof on the west side of the house fell to the floor, covering the exit with flaming pieces of wood, cutting off all access to the exit.

"Oh," Elsa said, standing up and pulling Anna off of the ground as she rose. "We do have a bigger problem."

* * *

Olaf barked wildly at the flames as Anna and Elsa hurriedly secured their gear.

"Yeah, Olaf," Anna said loudly. "We know there's a fire!"

"He's just being a dog," Elsa said calmly as she slipped her backpack on.

"Well, I sure wish dogs could carry stuff."

Olaf's barking didn't cease.

"You know," Elsa said, placing what she had in her hands back down. "I just thought of something."

"What," Anna asked. "Maybe we SHOULD try and make Olaf carry something?"

"No," Elsa chuckled. "How many exits do we have?"

"Uh, one."

"Uh huh, and can we get to it right now?"

"Not unless you wanna get scorched," Anna joked, her voice rising in pitch as she spoke, still grabbing her gear.

"So why are we grabbing our stuff if we can't get out?"

Anna stopped suddenly and sighed, her somewhat chipper look turned bleak as she dropped her backpack on the floor. "We are so fucking retarded."

"You said it, not me."

Olaf barked furiously at the fire still.

Anna and Elsa both looked over to face the dog, realizing now that it wasn't the fire that he was barking at. There, through a small hole in the wall, both girls saw a figure walking away from the fire he had set, and was only visible in the wee hours of the morning because of the torch he or she carried.

"That son of a bitch," Elsa said, pulling her pistol out of its holster, trying to line up the sights on the figure before putting her finger on the trigger.

Anna swatted the gun out of focus, causing Elsa to give her a glare that she wouldn't soon forget.

"Look," Anna said, trying to be diplomatic. "If you shoot that guy, then yeah, great, he's dead and we can take his stuff, but a horde will have heard that shot and then you have to shoot a lot more. It'll be a never ending cycle with us fighting the uphill battle."

Elsa sighed, knowing that Anna was right.

"Plus, you wanna beat the heck out of that guy don't you," Anna questioned, already knowing the answer.

Elsa nodded, keeping an eye on the retreating figure. "But how do we get out of here?"

"Already on that!"

Elsa turned around to see Anna, still with a large amount of gear on, holding the stump that Elsa sat on the night before over her head. The redhead threw the stump with a hearty "_HAR-UMF," _sending the stump through the air and into the hole in the wall where the figure was barely visible. The hole opened greatly, weakened by the fire that was near it, and Anna turned to face Elsa.

"Are you ready?"

Elsa nodded, understanding what was about to happen, and letting a small smile slide across her lips as she took notice of how she was about to do what usually happens in action movies.

Anna suddenly sprinted from her position, barreling towards the hole in the wall before making shoulder-first contact with it as she felt the heat and strength of the flames just a few inches away from her. Through the hole she came bursting through, Elsa right behind her, and following the blonde was Olaf. Anna hit the ground with a _thud_, while Elsa somersaulted into a position on one knee, her pistol in hand as she scouted the area around them.

Elsa scanned her surroundings, pointing her gun in all directions to see if she could see the fire starting mystery figure.

She saw nothing.

Everything was calm, and the only thing that could be heard was the fire and the creaking and snapping noises emitting from the house behind them. Elsa sighed, putting the gun back into its holster and propping herself on one arm on the knee that was raised, taking in the silence.

That was until Anna came rolling in front of Elsa, her shirt engulfed in flames.

* * *

"SHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT"

Elsa frantically looked about for something to distinguish Anna whilst she rolled about in the dirt, causing Olaf to go into a barking frenzy. Finally, after finding nothing good for retarding the flames, Elsa took off her overshirt in a single motion, and slung the shirt down furiously at Anna.

"Hold still!"

"ICAN'TI'MONFIRE," was Anna's reply.

Elsa's shirt was doing good, as it extinguished most of the flames before it too caught on fire.

In a panic, Elsa ripped off her undershirt, exposing her bra, and began to do the same thing as before, this time getting rid of all the flames. The blonde fell to her knees, huffing and puffing as she tried to regain her breath. She looked down at the redhead, trying to evaluate what kind of damage might have occurred to the girl's body.

There was just a few scraps of Anna's shirt left, barely enough to be used to wipe food from someone's face. Anna's skin was red, and Elsa knew that she was burned, but could only guess how badly.

"You alive, Anna?"

The redhead remained motionless. "Yeah, I'm alive." She gave a small cough. "Well-done, but alive."

Elsa ran her hand through her hair, smiling as she looked down at Anna. "Good. You gotta stay alive, remember?"

"How could I forget?"

Olaf, behind Elsa now, growled at the woods surrounding them.

Elsa pulled her gun from her holster and spun around to find the barrel of her gun pointed at a man after hearing a twig snap. He had long, blonde hair and brown eyes, a muscular build, and was relatively tall. He wore a black hoodie and black beanie; his jeans tore and his workboots looking like they've seen better days. The man was likely in his twenties, and was unarmed. He approached, carefully, but seemingly unalarmed by the gun pointed at his chest and the husky growling at him. He looked worried. Concerned, even.

Regardless, Elsa tightened the grip on her pistol.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you on the spot," Elsa cried out, doing all she could to not pull the trigger due to the events that just occurred.

"Well," the man started, stopping in his tracks and putting his hand to his chin and pulling out an ice pick, twirling it around his wrist by a lanyard attached to the bottom of it. "I _did _happen to take care of the creatures that lurked around here while you two, uh… Struggled."

Elsa started to snarl.

"Plus, as a bonus," the man started again, "I got to see you strip and beat up another girl." The man bent over from laughter. "Man," he said, shaking his said and smiling, "it was just like late-night television all over again."

Elsa stood up, pulling her other pistol out.

"Alright meathead," Elsa began, "I don't have time for your shit. Tell me why you're here. Why did you dispose of the corpses?"

"And if I refuse to tell you," the man asked, crossing his arms again and leaning on one leg.

Elsa pulled the hammers back on both pistols.

"Message received," the man said, his posture fading. "One at a time, so the reason I'm here is because I saw a fire, so I came to it. The reason why I killed those zombies was because, honestly, you looked like you needed help. Your dog's barking was attracting these things so I killed them while you distinguished your friend there," he said, pointing his pick at Anna. "It really was quite the show."

"Uh huh," Elsa began, unmoved. "And what did you plan on doing once you made sure we were safe?"

The man reached his hand into his beanie, scratching his hair and looking up, thinking. "I dunno… Maybe ask if they needed someone to travel with? The more the merrier, right?"

"Wrong," Elsa retorted, coldly.

"Ouch."

"Thank you for your help, but we don't need you. We need to get to the city."

The man's eyes widened. "I'm from the city! I can help you!"

Elsa shook her head. "She's from the city," the blonde said, motioning towards Anna who appeared to be passed out on the ground. "She knows her way around. And right now, she looks like she needs my help. So either go back where you came from, or I can shoot you."

The man put his hands up. "Alright, alright. Don't shoot me. I'll get back on my horse." The man started to walk off, but turned around and waved at Elsa. "Name's Kristoff, should you ever need me."

"Goodbye, Kristoff."

Kristoff laughed as he turned back around. "You should work on that attitude of yours."

And just like that, he was gone. Back into the trees he went, and it wasn't moments after when you could hear him yell, "HYAH," and ride off on his horse.

Elsa looked down at Olaf, then down to Anna, who was barely breathing.

"Well buddy," Elsa said, sighing as she squatted down and petted Olaf, causing the husky to give Elsa an affectionate, wet lick on her cheek, making the blonde laugh as she wiped off the slobber. "Let's take care of her again."

* * *

Elsa watched Anna uncertainly, afraid of what she might say if she woke. The blonde shook her head, turning her attention back to the small fire that she had built in Anna's tent.

It was still dark, just turning into a new day when Anna had woke from the fire. The bugs sang and cried out for each other as the "hoo" of an owl could be heard in the distance. The wind created a soothing music as if blew through the green leaves and tall grass of the woods, as if it were singing along with the bugs. The air was thick with dew as it tried to cling to the ground. Olaf lay in Elsa's lap, sleeping soundly as he enjoyed the rays of warmth that their diminutive, but effective, fire had to offer. Anna lay in a sleeping roll, bandaged and dressed in soot-free clothing, away from the fire. Elsa thought that she probably had had enough flames for one day.

But now, all Elsa could think about was how badly she felt towards Anna.

All Elsa had done to her was endanger her. From the time that they had first met, Elsa was always a threat to Anna. When Anna tried to wake Elsa, the blonde initiated an attack the likes of which Anna would have never thought Elsa would do…

_Like a killer. _Elsa sighed and shook her head, looking back over to Anna. _That's all she probably thinks of you. But then again, that's what you're good at, right? Killing._

Anna rustled, grimacing in her sleep as she rolled over on her burnt side.

_You're a monster. A cold-hearted fucking monster._

Anna rose, much to Elsa's surprise, as she held her side that she had rolled over on.

"Hey Elsa," Anna slurred, still drowsy from her interrupted slumber, "can I have some water or alcohol or a gun or something?"

Elsa nodded, immediately moving to get her canteen from her bag, waking Olaf in the process. The husky watched as Elsa carelessly threw things out of her bag until she found her water source, handing it over to the redhead.

"Here," Elsa said, handing the canteen to Anna, as well as two capsules of acetaminophen, "take these too. It's not alcohol, but it'll work, right?"

Anna took the water and drugs from Elsa, taking a huge gulp of water before swallowing the pills. She handed over the canteen to Elsa, laying back down.

"That was good water."

Elsa smiled as she sat the canteen down. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Sleep," the redhead said blurrily.

"Well, how about you sleep, and I'll keep watch? I'm not tired anyway."

"Are you sure, Elsa?"

"Positive. Now sleep. You're gonna need the energy."

There was a silence for a while, and Elsa began to pet Olaf as he had laid back down in Elsa's lap, soaking in the warmth from the small flickers of flame.

"You wanna know something, Elsa?"

The blonde jumped slightly at the sudden interruption of peace. "What," Elsa asked, putting a smile on her face when she turned her head to see a smiling, almost delirious (probably due to a lack of sleep and combining that with pain medicine) Anna with her hair messy and her sapphire eyes brightening her whole face.

"You've been the nicest person to me since this shit started. You've taken me in, fed me, clothed me, taken care of me when I'm hurt, and you've only tried to kill me once. No, make it twice now," the redhead said, causing Elsa to blush and cover her face. "And not only that, but you're helping me on my journey. I just don't know how to repay you."

Elsa could practically feel her cheeks on fire.

_Okay, here's a recap: EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT SHE THOUGHT ABOUT YOU WAS WROOOOONG._

"Oh," Elsa said, averting her face from Anna's to hide her blushing cheeks, "I'm sure we can think of something."

"Mm. I'm sure we can." Anna rolled back over in her bedroll. "Goodnight, Elsa."

"Goodnight Anna."

Elsa turned her head from Anna's general direction to look at Olaf, whose gray eyes stared into Elsa's blue eyes.

"What," Elsa mouthed to the dog, throwing her hands in the air.

Olaf rolled his eyes and yawned, laying his head back down into Elsa's lap.

Elsa rubbed her hand through Olaf's thick, white fur as she closed her eyes.

_Maybe you aren't the monster you think you are._

_Maybe._

* * *

**There's chapter 3! Whew.**

**Sorry for the delay, but I've been pretty busy with trying to get things packed up and ready to go before I ship out for basic training.**

**Speaking of which, due to that, I WILL NOT be able to post on either of my stories for over 70 days. Yikes.**

**Regardless, I'll get to work on Chapter 4, and I promise there will be a little bit of _conflict _happen between the girls and the undead. Give you something juicy to look forward to.**

**Anyway, please Fav/Follow!**

**\- FHDB**


	4. Journey

Journey

A gentle, warm breeze flowed through the expanse of trees and shrubs, the sound of twigs and small shale getting crunched under boots as the two girls made their way down a small incline. Elsa was helping Anna down, being the redhead's personal crutch as they meticulously planned each step; Elsa being ever vigilant of where she put a helping hand as to not further the damage to the various burn wounds Anna had all over her upper body. The two girls descended in silence, only stopping to let Anna catch her breath or for Elsa to reposition Anna to be more reliant on the blonde's shoulder.

In the silence, the world seemed at ease. The earth around the two girls seemed unscathed by the undead invasion. Squirrels barked at the sight of the two strange figures and the unknown white animal that followed them. Songbirds called to each other to make aware the presence of the girls. Bugs and various other creatures scurried about, making a plethora of sounds that seemed calm. A feeling that people in this day in time do not get to feel too often.

Anna took a deep breath in through the nose, and sighed out a deep breath of relief.

"Everything okay," Elsa asked, stopping their decline. "I didn't hurt you did I?"

"No," Anna said, smiling as she looked up to the tree tops, noting the various species of birds that flew about. "Just thinking about how nice this is."

Elsa took a look around, absorbing all the beauty that the green leaves and plants had to offer, and the warmth that the soothing breeze gave her when it blew onto her face.

"Yeah, this is pretty nice," Elsa said, starting to smile.

Anna noted Elsa's hardened demeanor change. What was once cold and steadfast semi-wavered at the beauty of the calm.

"Water also sounds pretty nice," Anna chuckled. "Care if we stop?"

Elsa seemed to snap back to reality, wasting no time to help Anna sit down in front of a large, earthed rock.

"Of course," Elsa said, kneeling down as she helped Anna, pulling her backpack off in the process. "Let me grab one for you."

Elsa fumbled around in her bag for a moment, careful not to make too much noise. After searching for a while, Elsa pulled out a bottle of purified water, breaking open the seal on the lid before screwing the lid itself back on and handing it over to the redhead.

"Here you go," Elsa said, giving Anna a slight grin along with the drink.

"Thanks," Anna said, returning the smile.

Anna unscrewed the lid of the bottle, happily putting the plastic to her lips. The lukewarm water felt good on her parched throat, and some droplets made their way out of the corner of Anna's mouth and trickled down her throat to her neck before finally getting soaked up by Anna's shirt. The redhead welcomed the soothing feeling the trail of water made down her skin as the wind made mild chillbumps form on her skin. Anna finally pulled the water bottle away from her mouth to catch her breath, only to realize that she had drank over half the bottle already.

"Guess you weren't that thirsty after all," Elsa jeered, sitting down and propping herself up on a tree not far from Anna.

Anna let out a weary chuckle before putting the bottle back to her lips, downing the rest of the water.

The two sat in silence for a while, with only the sound of Olaf making his patrols emitting any kind of noise.

"You know," Anna said, finally breaking the silence and drawing Elsa's immediate attention. "I sure do miss this feeling."

Elsa cocked her head. "This feeling, huh?"

"Yeah," Anna said, leaning her head back against the rock she rested upon. "This whole time I've been sitting down, I haven't worried about who or what is trying to kill me, and that's a lot to take into thought these days."

Elsa smiled. "I know exactly what you mean," the blonde said, picking up a nearby twig to study it.

"See, there it is again."

Elsa looked up at Anna, giving her an unsure look about what she had just said.

"You're smiling."

Elsa scoffed, beginning to draw on the ground with the twig. "I smile," she retorted.

"I'm sure you _used_ to," Anna replied. "But I haven't seen you do so much since you've been stuck with me."

"First off," Elsa said, "I'm not _stuck_ with you. I tagged along with you, remember? Secondly, I smile all the time!"

"Oh, whatever," Anna said jokingly, rolling her eyes. "Since when does the elusive Elsa ever smile?"

Elsa threw her twig at Anna, missing by just a few inches.

"I smile when I think about food," Elsa stated, laughing. "Or whenever I get to thinking about winter and snow."

"You're saying you actually like the cold?"

"Mhm," Elsa nodded. "It's my favorite season. I smile when I think of when I used to make snow angels and have snowball fights… And how my dad always helped me build a snowman…"

Anna leaned forward, feeling Elsa's mood change drastically.

"And how my mother used to make us tea to warm us up," Elsa sniffed.

Anna desperately wanted to get up and help Elsa, but didn't have the strength to push herself off the ground. "Elsa, I-"

"All I have to do is think of my parents," Elsa said, looking up to Anna, a smile across her tear streaked cheeks. "Because that's what keeps me living."

Anna felt tears well up in her eyelids.

"Elsa…"

Behind Anna a twig snapped, and Olaf started to bark voraciously. A rotten hand reached over the rock and grabbed Anna's hair, pulling her head back and causing her to shriek as the corpse used the girl to pull itself up onto the rock itself, laying its eyes on Anna.

"ANNA!"

Elsa reached for her knife, but was knocked to the ground by a corpse that tripped over an exposed root on the ground. The undead assailant looked like it was freshly turned, and reached up to Elsa, grabbing her by the boot and pulling her foot towards its ever-ready jaw. The strength of the corpse caught Elsa off-guard as she tried to kick the corpse away from her, and it was managing to slowly creep its way ever closer to Elsa. The violent gurgles and hisses struck fear in the blonde as she tried to reach for the knife again, only to have her arm grabbed this time, totally immobilizing her from being able to draw her weapon. Still yet, Elsa struggled to gain freedom, but to no avail. The corpse pulled itself on top of Elsa, leaning in to feast on his prey. Elsa shut her eyes in defeat, knowing this was the end.

A hair raising "_Chhink!"_ sound penetrated Elsa's ears, followed by feeling a warm liquid fall to her face. Elsa opened her eyes to see the corpse's teeth not even an inch in front of her face.

And Anna standing above it all, her knife handle sticking out of the skull of the still corpse.

With a grunt, the redhead heaved the lifeless body to the side. Elsa looked over to the rock where Anna was before, seeing another dead corpse there, blood dripping from a stab wound to the eye. The redheaded girl fell backwards, laying adjacent to Elsa, panting to catch her breath.

"You can't… Die on me," Anna puffed. "I… Need you."

"You saved me," Elsa said quietly, wiping the blood from her face. "I thought I was gonna die."

"Not… on my watch," Anna said before coughing. "I've gotta look out for you."

Elsa chuckled. "Guess I better start looking out for you a little better then, huh?"

"Yeah," Anna started, looking over to Olaf. "Or your dog could start warning us a little sooner."

Olaf whined at Anna's remark, putting himself down by Elsa's side.

"Heh," Elsa huffed, stroking Olaf's head. "We'll work on that."

The two girls laid there and caught their breath, still keeping into consideration that there might still be some more undead lurking around, but managing to get a little rest from their encounter.

"We gotta look out for each other," Anna said, looking over to Elsa. "We have to. In this world, it's life or death no matter what. You aren't guaranteed the next breath, so we have to make sure that no matter what, we live."

Elsa looked over to Anna, meeting her sapphire eyes.

"After all," Anna said, reaching over and putting a hand on Elsa's shoulder, "that's what survivors like us do."

* * *

Weapons drawn, the two girls carefully tread their way down a back alley towards a neighborhood that was familiar to Anna, remaining ever vigilant of their surroundings. Blue eyes darted here and there with every passing moment to ensure their utmost safety, taking in the weathered and beaten buildings.

Upon finally exiting the alleyway, the full vision of what this world had reaped was plain to see. Unkempt vines and shrubs were the most prominent features. Houses had their windows either broken into or boarded up. Painted messages were scattered here and there, some of hope, and some of despair. Many houses had an "x" painted over their door, a sign that the military had used to declare a household infected. The faint moaning and growling of a corpse could be heard in the closest house, but otherwise the tattered scenery was hushed. A feeling of eeriness fell upon Elsa as she looked around, making sure the two were safe.

The quiet was interrupted by a sigh from Anna.

"You know," Anna started, holstering her weapon, "this place always looked like hammered crap, but I couldn't have imagined that it'd look _this_ bad in a million years."

Elsa nodded, keeping her pistol in hand.

"I mean, the Johnsons never really mowed their yard all that often, and now look at it. You'd need a machete to get to the mailbox from the front door."

The blonde remained vigilant, as did Olaf, as the two scanned for any signs of immediate danger.

"And that corpse is probably Mrs. Alfson," Anna continued, motioning towards the house emitting all of the groans with her head. "She was waiting for her husband to return from overseas. He was deployed not too long ago to a peacekeeping mission in… Well, somewhere. I don't quite remember."

Anna sighed again, looking up to the ever-attentive blonde and poking her in the cheek. Elsa seemed to snap out of her trance, and looked a little irritated by the childish interruption, but after seeing Anna smile at her, Elsa dropped the matter.

"Look, there's a park down the street," Anna said, pointing down the nearest street. "We could stop there and rest for a while. It's not but about another half hour from there to my house anyway."

Elsa looked down at Olaf, the furball giving Elsa a long look before yawning and stretching his legs. The blonde laughed, shaking her head at Olaf.

"Alright," Elsa said empathetically, looking back up at Anna. "Let's go to the park."

* * *

"Look, I'm serious," Anna said sternly, laying upside down on a metallic slide. "There's no way you can convince me otherwise!"

"You can't be serious," Elsa said, shaking her head at Anna, swaying slowly on the swing set. "What you're saying is _completely _ridiculous!"

"Nuh-uh, it is not!"

"It totally is!"

"Oh yeah," Anna retorted, "What makes you think you're right?"

"No, no, what makes you think that _you _are right?"

"Because Green Lantern could TOTALLY kick Superman's ass!"

"No possible way," Elsa said louder this time, standing up out of her swing. "Just because he can make anything green doesn't mean that he could beat the man of steel!"

"But since he can make anything green, what's stopping him from making a cage of Kryptonite and trapping Superman?"

"But he can't do that," Elsa shouted, started to feel a smile run up her lips.

"Says you," Anna retorted, catching Elsa's infectious grin.

"Ugh," Elsa groaned, starting to laugh. "You're so stubborn!"

"I get it from you!"

The two girls laughed on the playthings as Olaf slept, the day winding down to an end as the sun cast a yellow-orangish glow on everything in sight. The warmth of dawn made it all too easy for Elsa to actually relax, sitting back down onto the swingset and swaying back and forth slowly. Dragging her boot on the ground as she soaked in all the peace and quiet, Elsa looked up to see Anna approaching Olaf carefully with an outstretched hand, the redhead smiling when the canine allowed her to stroke his mane.

Elsa couldn't help but let an inward smile creep onto her lips. This girl had the purest of intentions and such a kind heart, Elsa wondered how she had even survived this long. Regardless, she was happy she did.

Everyone snapped to attention when a sudden outburst of bullets penetrated the silence of the mid-day.

Elsa reached for her weapon she had laid aside to rest on a see-saw, and pushed the buttstock of the rifle deep into her shoulder, pushing her cheek into the stock itself to aim down her sights. Anna unsheathed her knife, her main weapon too far away to reach for. More shots followed the first volley, and this time, there were clearly more than two weapons involved. It sounded as if a squadron had opened fire on a point of interest, the only intention to kill and leave no trace of the target behind. The sound of an engine rang out, revving up and suddenly stopping, causing the tires to screech on the asphalt they must have been on. Elsa met Anna's gaze and motioned towards their gear with her head, not dropping her guard in the slightest.

_Those shots couldn't be more than a mile out. _Elsa hurriedly grabbed her gear, slinging the huge duffel bag across her back all while maintaining proper posture with her weapon. _Multiple firearms, vehicles... It has to be them._

Anna, now with her full loadout and bow drawn, joined Elsa's side as the two faced where the firefight noises came from.

"Are we gonna go check that out," Anna asked, looking up to the blonde.

"No," Elsa breathed, trying to hide her worry. "We're gonna stay about as far as we can from that."

"Well, my house is the other way, we can make it there pretty easy," Anna started, looking back towards where she was originally facing. "But there could be a ton of gear ripe for the taking! I could even get another automati-"

"We need to go," Elsa huffed, pulling Anna's arm as she started to sprint away. "Now!"

Anna's arrow became unnotched and fell to the ground as Elsa tugged her away from where they stood.

"Hey," Anna started to retort, but looking up to Elsa with aggravation in her cheeks, the redhead could tell by the terrified look on Elsa's face that she had a very good reason to want to leave.

And Anna wasn't about to wait around to find out why.


End file.
